A Reason To Kill (Reason #2)

by C. P. Smith

  “Annie’s here to say goodbye,” Max had announced as soon as his arm had me tightly in his grasp.

  I didn’t know what to say so I just nodded and smiled weakly at the woman. After hearing Max and I had pushed her to drink after years of sobriety, it weighed heavily on me and I was determined not to cause her any more grief. Max had explained that she’d come to Trails End about four years ago to work for Ralph, her uncle, and to escape a past that included alcohol abuse. Her father had been abusive growing up and she’d started drinking at an early age to compensate. When she finally got control of her drinking, she’d moved to Trails End to avoid the pitfalls that would send her back to her addiction, her father. Now she’d fallen off the wagon for another addiction, Max, and it seemed clear she was leaving to avoid the same pitfalls that would send her back into a life of addiction again.

  “I’ll let you two talk,” I told both of them. However, as I turned to leave, I looked back at Annie and explained, “You’ll find him some day. Anyone as strong as you are definitely has something beautiful coming your way, you’ll see.”

  Annie had smiled when I told her that, and Max kissed my forehead before I made my way to his office to watch out the window as they’d said goodbye. She cried a few times, but Max kept his distance, he didn’t make the same mistake as last week. When she went to leave, after all her tears ran dry, Max had given her a brief hug before she climbed into her packed car and driven away. After she was gone, he’d climbed the stairs, made his way straight to me, and I’d hugged him close as I thanked God he’d chosen me.

  Basically, as you can see, I’d been a busy beaver between Max, Annie, Maxine, Jess and Brian, Mom and Dad, and preparing for the relocation. The only loose ends that hadn’t been tied up neatly in a bow were who killed Curly and Donald and when the wrath of Thor would wreak vengeance on the Chief of Police. (Jury’s still out on that one since Max is playing his vengeance wreaking cards close to his well-defined chest.)

  “I think we should move BooBoo and his mother today. Other than Cowboy, they’ll be the hardest to move, and it needs to be done at the same time,” I suggested to Lucy and Frank.

  “Agreed,” Frank replied.

  “When is Max coming over with the truck and men?” Lucy asked.

  “Should be here anytime, he’s just scouting the meadow between here and his property for the flattest route to pull the cage over.”

  “Jesus, look at the size of them,” Brian mumbled from behind me.

  We were currently at the edge of the meadow, maybe a mile from base camp, watching Booboo and his mother trying to catch what salmon were left in the river. Booboo seemed to be healing well from his gunshot wound and was now standing next to his mother Nala as Lucy had named her.

  “I can’t believe you can get this close to them without them attacking,” Jess stated.

  “We’ve been coming up here for five years, three times a year, as long as we keep our distance and don’t approach them, they ignore us,” Frank explained.

  “And if they attack?”

  “Hasn’t happened yet, if it does, I’ll let you know,” Frank chuckled.

  “I feel so much safer,” Jess mumbled.

  “I’ll protect you,” Brian jumped in kissing her forehead. Jess melted a little as I watched them interact and I wondered if that was what Max and I looked like to others.

  “Older couples are sweet,” Lucy whispered to me as we both watched.

  “Yeah, they are kinda cute, aren’t they?”

  “Yeah, way cuter than you and Max. You two are more like watching these bears during mating season. You cross your arms, glaring, while Max stomps his scent into the ground, grunting, ‘look at me, I’m the biggest bad-ass bear in town,’ he even has the walk down.”

  Just then, Max came into view with his truck and we watched as he pulled up, got out, and we laughed as he stomped his way towards us.

  “I’m not even gonna ask,” he sighed as he walked up, curled his hand around my neck, kissing me sweetly.

  “You stomp like Cowboy,” I told him when he finished.

  “I stomp like your bear?”

  “Yeah, during mating season the males have a distinct walk when they approach a female they want to mate with. They stomp their scent into the ground to let others males know the female is his.”

  Smiling, Max replied, “Does it work on the females as well as it works on you?”

  “It doesn’t work on me,” I defended.

  “Wasn’t that you I stomped in the kitchen this morning and last night in the shower? What about yesterday on the—”

  “Fine it works,” I snapped as I covered his mouth with my hand.

  “You ready Max?” Frank chuckled.

  “Jake and Buddy are right behind me on an ATV. You know which one you’re moving today?”

  Upon hearing Jake’s name, I saw Lucy run her hand through her hair and look down at her clothes. She’d been cooped up on the mountain for the past week putting a dent in her love life, so to speak.

  “We’re gonna move Booboo and his mother, get them out of the way first,” I told Max.

  “Will they both fit in the cage?”

  “Yes, we’ll tranquilize the mother first since it takes her longer to succumb to the drugs. Then we’ll tranquilize Booboo. Once they’re both out, we’ll tag them, draw blood and hair samples, measure their feet and then we have tarps we’ll place them on so we can easily load them in together. Once that’s done, we’ll take them both over to your property and wait for them to wake up. When they’re awake, we’ll raise the gate and out they will run. Simple.”

  “Who’s tranquilizing the bears?”

  “The best shot in the county,” Shane announced as he walked up with our dart gun.

  “Best shot my ass,” Max smiled.

  “I have shot your ass. Did that buckshot wound heal by the way?”

  “Yeah, Shane, my ass healed about twenty years ago.”

  “He’s still pissed he couldn’t sit for a week,” Shane explained as he turned to me.

  “Is that what those dimples are?” I giggled.

  “Are they right around his lower left butt cheek?” Shane smiled and I burst out laughing.

  “Are you two done?” Max snapped looking between the both of us.

  “Not if he has more stories like that.”

  “Jesus, remind me not to introduce you to any more of my friends.”

  “Just show him one of your imperfections, Mia. Not that you have any from what I can see.”

  Max’s eyes shot to Shane’s upon hearing I had no imperfections and Shane’s grin grew wider as he put his hands up in surrender.

  “Sorry, big guy, all fun and games man, you know that.”

  “Can we get back to the matter at hand?” Max bit out.

  “Right,” I agreed quickly ‘cause Mad Max was in the house. “So, Shane will tranquillize the bears and we’ll wait for them to take effect.”

  “All right, only request I have is that you stay back from the bears until they’re in a cage.”

  “They’ll be out cold, Max.”

  “I’m not arguing about this, let the men handle the removal and you stay back with Jess and Lucy.”

  “Max—”

  “He’ll just “stomp” you, Mia, might as well give in now, and save yourself the headache,” Jess laughed. Max smiled and then winked at Jess while I considered disowning her and stomping Max myself.

  Ignoring them both, I watched Shane load a large dart into the rifle as Frank pointed out Nala. The shot had to hit a large muscle to avoid injury or overdose so he aimed for the muscles around her neck. Luckily, he got her on the first shot. She jumped, then spun around looking for danger to her cub, and then settled down once she didn’t see an immediate threat, but kept shaking her neck trying to dislodge the dart. Shane then loaded a dart, with a smaller dose of tranquilizer and took aim on Booboo, who was already on alert and sticking close to his mother. Shane took aim, pulled the trigger and
Booboo took the dart near his shoulder.

  Now we wait.

  Max gave up on stomping me when the bears went down twenty minutes later and I marched out ignoring his rumbling voice as he walked behind me. He was not going to tell me what I could or could not do and the sooner he got used to that the better.

  When we reached the bears, Jess and Lucy stood to the side as Max, Brian, Frank, Buddy, and Jake dragged Nala onto the tarp. Then waited for Frank and me to tag and take measurements as Shane drew blood. After we’d finished, they carried Nala and placed her in the cage, then we repeated this with Booboo until both were safely inside and the door was lowered.

  Like I said, simple.

  Now all they had to do was drive back to Max’s side and when they woke up, open the gate and set them free. Two bears down, nine more to go and then all the bears would be protected for generations to come.

  Eighteen

  Thelma and Louise

  Day five since returning to Trails End saw two more bears measured, tagged, and moved. We’d been lucky so far, all four containments had gone off without a hitch. This chance to work with the bears made all those years in my office writing reports worthwhile. It was thrilling to stroke my hand down their coarse fur, to see up close the way the ends were lighter in color, giving it that grizzled look that gave the bears their name. Not to mention seeing firsthand how incredibly big they were. The adult bears, ranging anywhere from five hundred pounds, the females, up to half a ton, Cowboy, were intimidating. Their paws were massive with razor sharp claws protruding like daggers, and their canines were over three inches long and deadly. I had to admit I was glad they were out cold as we examined them, but I wasn’t about to express my fears in front of Max.

  Once loaded, Max and the men took the bears over to his side, with Frank and Shane along to keep an eye out and release them once awake. That left Jess, Brian, Lucy and I to make our way back down to town after another successful day. We split up once we’d climbed down, with Jess, Brian and Lucy heading back to Maxine’s as I made my way to Martha’s house. I’d been staying with Max since we returned, but I knew it was time for me to make arrangements that were more permanent. Max may be comfortable with me in his home, but if I was going to make Trails End my home, then I needed a place of my own. I figured Max would argue, but I needed to have my own space as we worked out the kinks in our new relationship and got to know each other better. I’d never lived with anyone before, and though I wanted Max in my life, I needed to ease into his. Basically, I needed a sanctuary that I could go to when I wanted to throw an axe at him thus giving me the time I needed to learn not to throw an axe at him.

  I’d mentioned to Martha I was looking for a place. I wasn’t stupid enough to ask Maxine since she’d just side with Max. And Martha, knowing Max as well as she did, had smiled and said she knew just the place. Her home, located on Crystal Lake, had an old cabin for guests on the property that hadn’t been used in years, and Martha said I could have it for as long as I needed it.

  “Man like Max is used to having his way,” she’d told me. “Be good for him to see you aren’t just gonna kowtow to him every time he bellows.”

  “I just need it while we figure each other out,” I’d explained.

  “Mmhmm, I imagine an educated lady such as yourself isn’t used to jumping when a man barks.”

  “It takes some getting used to,” I mumbled.

  “Though, a man who looks like Max might make the bellowing easier to deal with,” she pointed out.

  “There is that,” I agreed.

  “However, now that I think about it, if you love him, then I suppose you’d be willing to put up with anything, right?”

  “You make a solid point there as well.”

  “In his defense, though, it can’t be easy puttin’ up with a headstrong woman either,” she went on.

  “Something tells me he’s had more practice than I have,” I reasoned.

  “True, true. Maxine and Max have been doing that song and dance since he was knee high to a grasshopper. Tom just sat back and enjoyed the show,” she’d explained. I’d laughed when she told me that, it was good to know that he’d survived their butting heads.

  Martha agreed to meet me at her house at four, so I went to Smith’s Mercantile to grab groceries and supplies. Martha said everything I needed was in the cabin, just stock it with food, and I was good to go. She’d also promised not to tell anyone I was moving in tonight so I could break the news to Max in my own way. Preferably over the phone where he couldn’t "stomp" me into getting his way.

  Roaming the aisle of Smith’s Mercantile, I was happy to see it was bigger than I’d thought and that the shelves were well stocked. As I made my way around the store, grabbing food and paper products, I was lucky to find a nice wine to go with dinner. They also had flowers for an old ceramic pot I’d picked up at a garage sale the day before. Done with my shopping, I was making my way towards the checkout counter when I felt a presence behind me. Turning, I was startled when I encountered a pair of angry blue eyes.

  “Heard rumors you’d returned,” Stetson replied.

  “You have a way of sneaking up on me I could do without,” I hissed.

  “How long you gonna corrupt my town this trip?” He asked ignoring me.

  “Indefinitely, if you must know.”

  “Anyone else turns up dead, you’ll be the first I come lookin’ for.”

  “I’m sure the town sleeps better knowing you’re on the case. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” I snapped. However, as I tried to pass by, he grabbed my arm and then leaned in and whispered, “You ever get tired of the King of Trails End you know where to find me.”

  Wrenching my arm from his grip, I headed towards the checkout as that son of a bitch chuckled. I don’t know how a man like that became the Chief of Police, and I don’t care, I just prayed whatever Max had planned was swift and painful.

  When I arrived at Martha’s, she met me at the back of her property. The cabin was charming with a large front porch that looked out onto the lake and most likely, the first home built on the property in the 1890’s from the look of it. The chinking was darker in color, mud brown, and the logs were gray with age. With a rock chimney on one side covered with ivy and flower beds that looked freshly planted with fall flowers. The roof had been replaced like so many in this area. Now it sported a green metal roof that held up under the excessive amount of snow they received in Trail End.

  Smoke rose from the chimney as I got out of my rental, a Jeep I’d picked up in Fairbanks. With Curly gone, finding a pilot to fly us back would have delayed our return, not to mention, I was in no hurry to ride in another tiny plane. Besides, I needed transportation until I sorted out my life here and was able to retrieve my own vehicle.

  Martha was on the porch as I climbed the steps. When I reached the door, she opened it, and I walked into heaven.

  The cabin was one big room with a kitchen and bathroom. On one side, there was a white, rod iron bed, with a pale blue down comforter and big fluffy pillows. There was an over-sized leather chair in one corner with a floor lamp for reading and a small round table with two chairs in the other. The floors were wood plank covered in light blue and yellow throw rugs. Along the back wall was a small stove and fridge, with a large white farm sink in between them and window just above it with a forest view. There was enough countertop space to prepare small meals, all done in butcher-block, and they were currently covered in bread and a large bowl filled with salad. The windows all had white curtains to block out the sun, but the best part about the large one-room cabin was the fireplace. It was huge, and clearly had been used to cook meals before gas or electric appliances, as it was right now. Hanging from a rod inside the fireplace was a large, cast iron pot and from the smell of it, something was cooking.

  When I turned around to ask Martha what was going on, I found Max instead.

  “Um,” was all I got out before Max responded.

  “I don’t like it, but I get
it.”

  “You aren’t going to yell and beat your chest?”

  “Nope, if you need this for a few months until you can see this is gonna last a lifetime then I can live with that. However, I want it on record that I intend to wake up with you as much as possible.”

  “I suppose I could handle that from time to time,” I smiled in relief.

  “Starting tonight,” he grinned as he tossed my bag on the bed, then turned and shut the door.

  “I have groceries I need to unload,” I told him as he stalked me across the room.

  “They’ll keep,” he answered as he trapped me against the counter and removed my glasses.

  Wrapping an arm around my middle the other hand came to my hair, and he tugged gently until my head tilted back so he could take my mouth. He kissed me like I hadn’t just seen him a few hours before, but like I’d been gone and had just come home from a long voyage. Our tongues tangled as he took the kiss deeper and soon, without my permission, my hands divested him of his shirt one button at a time. His hands found a way to strip the jeans from my body, and then two seconds later I was shirtless, standing in my bra and panties. Max bent, lifting me off my feet, and then tossed me on the bed landing on top of me.

  “Time to break in the bed,” he mumbled as he stripped off my panties and got to work.

  I gasped when his mouth found my core, and then whimpered as his new beard tickled my sensitive skin. Reaching down, I tangled my fingers in his hair as his tongue built magic between my legs. My orgasm hit swift and hard when he curled his finger up and then pressed down. I’d never come that quickly, never ignited like that for a man, but Max took his work seriously and the results were sheer bliss.

  Max wasn’t done, though. He must have liked how quickly I succumbed, liked the way I whimpered his name, because he growled, then ordered “Again.” That had me so turned on that I did as he asked, and came long and hard.

  Our hands, mouths and tongues, fought each other as we christened the bed. When I tried to get my mouth on him, he flipped me to my knees and then entered my core in one deep thrust.